BATON ROUGE, La.| The Jackson State softball team took a 3-0 lead in the second inning and never surrendered the advantage on the way to a 3-2 victory against the Arlington Baptist Patriots Sunday afternoon in the Mardi Gras Classic.

Freshman Marissa Medina (2-0) got the win for Jackson State (3-5). The right-hander went five innings, giving up one run on two hits, allowing three walks and striking out six.
Offensively, the Lady Tigers were paced by sophomore Mari Stephens, who went 1-for-3 on the day with a home run and three RBI. Freshman Jace Jackson furnished a standout day at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Junior Jalia Hubbard also chipped in for Jackson State, putting together one hit in two trips to the plate while adding two walks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jackson State (3-6) got on the board first, starting in the second inning.
• The Tigers scored three times, all of them coming across on a three-run homer off the bat of Hermariya Stephens.
• Arlington Baptist put up two runs before the game was over, but the Tigers still held on for the 3-2 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Marissa Medina struck out six Patriots hitters.
• Jackson State's highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed three runs across.
• The Tigers had control of the rest of the game after moving ahead of the Patriots 3-0 in the top of the second.
• JSU out-hit the Patriots at an 8-5 clip.
• Jackson State pitchers limited Arlington Baptist to just 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position.
• Jackson State's pitchers faced 30 Arlington Baptist hitters in the game, allowing 12 ground balls and two fly balls while striking out seven.
• The Tigers drew five walks from Arlington Baptist pitching.
• Stephens led the Tigers at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.
• Arlington Baptist was led offensively by Bredleau, who went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.
• Sullivan led the Patriots pitching staff, throwing 5.2 shutout innings.

GAME 2-JSU vs. SU
The Tigers put together an admirable effort on Saturday, but ultimately came up short, falling to Southern University, 5-3.
Junior Takiya Hill (0-3) started and took the loss in the circle for Jackson State (3-6).
Offensively, the Tigers were paced by sophomore Mari Stephens, who went 1-for-2 on the day with an RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Trailing 3-0, the Tigers first put runs on the board in the fifth inning.
• Southern then scored two times over the remaining two innings to break the tie and grab the 5-3 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Jackson State's highest scoring inning was the fifth, when it pushed three runs across.
• The Tigers' pitchers limited Southern to just 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position and faced 28 Southern hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out one.
• Stephens led the Tigers at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI.
• Southern was led offensively by junior Anabella Valadez, who went 2-for-3 with a triple, a home run and two RBI.
• Freshman Kairah Williams led the Lady Jaguars pitching staff, throwing seven innings of three-run ball.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will host its home opener, the Capital City Classic, Saturday and Sunday at the JSU Softball Field. Jackson State will open the tournament with Kentucky State Saturday at 10 a.m. followed by a matchup with Tuskegee at noon.

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